Joanie Clarkson
Social-Emotional Learning or SEL is becoming an increasingly important part of the curriculum. Considering, what can only be described as the chaos that our students are facing every day for more than 2 years, it is no wonder that many students have trouble identifying emotional cues until they reach a boiling point. This video helps students evaluate and categorize their feelings. This helps them recognize they are having intense feelings before they get out of control.
This video also helps students learn vocabulary for what they are feeling. Being able to name what they feel can be such a powerful tool on its own for managing those feelings. This content provides an additional tool for students of all ages to utilize when accessing the size of their feelings and then communicating to others that information. Using a 1-5 scale on a thermometer, accompanied by a color scheme, helps children determine how intensely they are feeling negative emotions.
Beyond identifying thoughts, it is important for people to pay attention to the signals their body sends them. This video does a great job exploring possible physical cues associated with feelings, but more importantly, getting the student to discover those cues for themselves. Additionally, the video has students think about their actions in connection with their feelings. This is a wonderful example of self-reflection that is so important for students to learn.
Another benefit to this video is that it can help students understand each other. If you haven't, you will experience a student that loses control of their emotions. Using the language of the video, they get to a level 5. While in the moment, your concern is for that student, it can be an issue for the other students to witness this. This video can help the other students understand why their classmate would behave in such a way. It can also help them be a comfort for their friends if they recognize they are experiencing those heightened emotions. The video never puts forth that expectation, however, the me-centered messaging can be expanded to others in a class discussion.
I recommend this video for elementary and middle school. I think the emotional skills outlined in this video will be helpful for all grade levels, but the content style may be insulting to older students. As always, you know your class best, so use your judgment. Sometimes teaching SEL can be overwhelming, but remember, you're doing a great job!
social emotional learning, sell, education, feelings, k12, elementary school, kindergarten